


Fairytale of New York

by FadedRiddler



Series: A Christmas Story [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Cora Mills is awful, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:07:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21905698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadedRiddler/pseuds/FadedRiddler
Summary: Sequel to "All I want for Christmas is you"Regina and Emma are getting married and Emma wants to invite Regina's parents.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Series: A Christmas Story [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577893
Comments: 18
Kudos: 102





	1. Will you marry me?

**Author's Note:**

> Since I wrote my last fic entirely about Emma's family, I only thought it fair that I should write one about Regina's more dysfunctional family. This one probably won't be as long as the last one, but I hope you all enjoy!

Emma and Regina are in Storybrooke on Christmas morning again, exchanging gifts with Emma's family. This year has been one of the best for Emma: the day after she graduated from college, she moved in with Regina, and is now working as a bail bondsperson. She and Regina have been so happy together. 

After everyone has given gifts, Emma stands up and clears her throat. Mary Margaret shoots her a thumbs up and Emma smiles nervously. 

"I actually have one more gift to give," she says and holds a hand out to Regina, who takes it. Emma pulls her up, and reaches into her pocket and takes out a small velvet box. Regina gasps. "Regina, one year ago, I blackmailed you into being my fake girlfriend."

" _Blackmailed_?" David asks incredulously. 

" _Fake_ girlfriend?" Snow squeaks. Regina purses her lips; they haven't told Emma's parents the real story of how they got together, but she supposes now is as good as time as ever. Emma glares at them, and they shut up. 

"Regina, one year ago, I blackmailed you into being my fake girlfriend, and over the course of the five days here, I fell completely in love with you. You make me feel so alive, and I honestly can't believe that you love me too, but babe, you make me so happy. Henry said last year when we were in a bit of a rough patch that I looked at you like you were everything, and that's because I don't know how else to look at you. You are my everything." Emma pauses and a tear slips down Regina's face. Emma gets down on one knee and opens the box. It's a ring, and it's beautiful. "Regina Mills, will you make me the happiest person in the universe and marry me?" 

Regina nods. "Yes, oh my god, a million times yes," she sobs, and Emma jumps up and kisses her deeply. Regina makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a hiccup and Emma slides the ring on her finger. Mary Margaret and David give them both long hugs, and then the twins high five Emma and throw their arms around Regina. 

"Welcome to the family!" Henry says. 

"Who's taking whose last name?" Neal asks, and Emma and Regina glance at each other. 

"I was thinking we go with Swan-Mills," Emma admits and Regina smiles. David and Mary Margaret nod approvingly. 

Regina pulls Emma to her. "Well then, I love you, Emma Swan-Mills." Emma kisses her. 

"And I love you, Regina Swan-Mills." 

"So, want to tell us about blackmailing her into being your fake girlfriend?" David asks once everyone has calmed down. 

"Not really," Emma says sheepishly. "Maybe tomorrow. Today, we celebrate! I'm getting married!" David sighs and lets the matter drop as Emma throws her arms around Regina again. "We're getting married, babe," she whispers in Regina's ear. 

Mary Margaret comes back into the room with a binder and drops it on the couch. "Wedding plans!" she sings gleefully and Emma rolls her eyes while Regina looks astounded. 

"How long have you had that?" Regina asks. The binder is full of papers, and they just got engaged like ten minutes ago. 

"Since Emma told me she had a girlfriend. So why don't we go into the kitchen and we can start talking?" It's clear that they don't have an option here, so Emma and Regina follow Mary Margaret to the table. "Now, where do you want to get married? Here in Storybrooke? Washington? What were you guys thinking?" 

"The beach would be nice. Or New York," Emma suggests and Regina snorts. Those places are almost complete opposites of each other. 

"New York sounds nice. Maybe by Niagara Falls," Regina offers and Mary Margaret writes it down in the binder. 

"I assume your parents will be coming, Regina? We should probably include them in this discussion too," Emma's mom says and Regina tenses. Emma knows that the brunette's parents are a touchy subject for Regina, but she doesn't know why. Regina never talks about them. Emma's never even met them. 

Regina waves a hand. "It's fine. I'm sure they'll be fine with whatever," she says dismissively. 

"Regina, have you told them that you're getting married?" Emma asks.

"We got engaged ten minutes ago," Regina says.

"Are you going to tell them?" Regina fidgets uncomfortably before shrugging, not looking at Emma. "Why not?"

"I don't have the best relationship with my mother," Regina finally says. "I don't care if she knows that I'm getting married. I don't want her at our wedding, Emma, and I doubt that she wants to be there either." 

"You should still tell her. You're her daughter, even if you guys aren't on good terms, she's still going to be happy to hear that you're engaged. I'm sure she's going to want to come," Emma says and Regina almost laughs. Emma has two perfect parents who love her so much that she can't even imagine Regina's mother not wanting to see her get married. 

"You don't understand, Emma. My mom doesn't care about me at all. She's only concerned with power." 

"Regina, just please tell her. For me," Emma pleads. Regina clenches her teeth at the thought of calling Cora Mills. They haven't spoken in years. 

"Fine. Just so I can prove to you that she doesn't love me," Regina concedes and leaves the table. She goes into the bathroom and closes the door, taking deep breaths. She can do this. Maybe Emma's right, maybe Cora will be happy. She presses the call button on the contact before she can change her mind.

It rings once. Twice. Three times. Just when Regina starts to relax, Cora picks up. 

"Regina?" She can hear the shock in her voice. 

"Hello, Mother," Regina spits out bitterly. 


	2. Telling Cora Mills

"Regina?" Cora asks, sounding very surprised to hear her daughter's voice. 

"Hello, Mother," Regina spits out bitterly. It's been about three years since she's last spoken to her. 

"I'm shocked you even remember who I am. You haven't called in awhile," Cora says innocently and Regina clenches her fists. Her mother knows exactly why Regina hasn't called in awhile, but Cora's doing what she always does - messing with Regina. 

"Don't play coy with me, Mother, it doesn't suit you," Regina tells her and Cora laughs. 

"So, what's the occasion? I assume you're not talking to me just for the sake of catching up with your dear mother?" Always straight to the point. Good, Regina doesn't want to spend any more time talking to Cora than she has to. 

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm getting married," Regina answers through gritted teeth. 

"Oh? And who is the miserable soul that has just made the worst decision of their life?" Regina flinches at her mother's harsh words, but straightens herself up. She won't break in front of Cora Mills, she won't give her mother the satisfaction of knowing that she's hurt. 

"Her name is Emma Swan. She asked me to marry her this morning," Regina replies reluctantly. She wishes she had just hung up after telling Cora she was getting married. 

"Honestly, Regina, I'm kind of offended that this is the first time I'm hearing of an Emma Swan," Cora says and Regina rolls her eyes. "When is the wedding? Zelena and I would love to attend." At the mention of her half sister, Regina almost punches the bathroom wall. She and Zelena have never gotten along, always fighting for their mother's love. When Regina figured out that she was never going to get it, she stopped trying. Zelena is still attempting to gain it by always being at Cora's beck and call. Regina finds it almost pathetic. 

"Neither of you are invited," Regina snaps. 

"Dear, you wound me," Cora drawls. "You may not invite me to your wedding, but I'd like to meet this Emma Swan. I'm requesting your and Emma's presence at my house for New Year's. Today's the 25th, so I can arrange a flight for you tomorrow."

"We're at Emma's family's house right now. Sorry, but that doesn't work." Regina sounds anything but sincere. 

"I'm sure your fiancee wants to meet your parents, so I'm sure that you can work this out between you. I'll see you tomorrow," Cora says, and hangs up before Regina can refuse. She stamps her foot in frustration. The last thing she wants to do is go see her mother. She breathes in deeply and exhales slowly before opening the bathroom door. Emma is standing right there, and Regina jumps. 

"Have you been listening the entire time?" Regina asks and Emma nods sheepishly. "We don't have to go to her house if you'd rather just stay here." 

"No, I want to meet your parents," Emma says, and Regina groans. "Your mother doesn't sound great, but what about your dad? He can't be as bad as her." At the mention of her father, Regina closes her eyes. 

"My father died four years ago from heart complications. He was nothing like Cora. I never figured out how he could stand her." 

"I'm really sorry, Regina," Emma says and pulls her in for a hug. "Where does your mother live?" 

"In California. Emma, I'm serious, we really don't have to go." Regina's not above begging right now. Emma doesn't understand what Cora is capable of. How she can tear you down with her words, how she can leave permanent psychological scars but not a single physical mark. 

"Babe, everything's going to be okay. You don't have to face your mother alone, I'll be right by your side. Always." Emma squeezes Regina's hands encouragingly. Regina forces a smile at the blonde. Emma will be with her, yes, but that's exactly what Regina is afraid of. "Now, we should probably get back to planning the wedding. My mom might have a fit if we don't pick out flower colors in the next ten minutes." She plants a kiss on Regina's forehead and gently tugs her back to the kitchen. 

Four hours later, Regina excuses herself from the table. Her head is pounding from all of Mary Margaret's questions about the wedding and she just needs to be alone. Emma's parents actually let them sleep in the same bed this year, so Regina flops onto Emma's bed and closes her eyes. The impending doom of tomorrow is all she can think about, and she wonders if she could possibly convince Emma to run away with her. However, there is no doubt in Regina's mind that if they don't show up at Cora's house, she will hunt them down. 

"Hey, you okay?" Emma says softly, coming into her room and sitting on the bed besides Regina. She shakes her head and can't hold back the tears. "Regina, what's wrong?" She sounds concerned now and she lays down so Regina can move and rest her head on the blonde's shoulder. Emma puts an arm around her to pull her close and soothingly draws circles on Regina's hand. "Is this about seeing your mom tomorrow?" 

"Emma, my mother is an awful person," Regina tells her. "She has to have control over everything. I cut her out of my life, and she still controls it." 

"How?" Emma asks. This is the most Regina has ever said about her mom, and Emma wants to hear more. 

"My house? It belongs to her. She gave it to me." The first time Emma went over to Regina's house, her jaw almost hit the floor. She never would've guessed that her girlfriend was living in a mansion. She knew that Regina had money, but it never occurred to her that she was that rich. But now learning that Regina's mom gave it to her makes sense. 

"So? She gave you a literal mansion! That's awesome, the most my parents ever gave me was my car. Which, don't get me wrong, I totally love. But it's no mansion." 

"I had no desire to live in it. I had graduated from Harvard and gotten my first job teaching at a lower level university in Massachusetts. I was there for about two years when I got a call about a job in Washington. The pay was a lot better, and it was a great opportunity, so I took it. I should've realized something was up, but it was a great chance, so I didn't think anything of it. I was looking for a place to live when I got a call from my mother. Conveniently, she had bought a mansion a few years ago for fun that was only fifteen minutes away from campus. I refused. I didn't need her help. Once I went to college, I didn't tell her anything, and god, it was amazing. When I graduated, I didn't let her know where I was, or what I was doing. Turns out, for the two years I was in Massachusetts teaching, she was looking for me. She gave my resume to all the schools in Washington that were nearby her mansion, fully intending to make me live there so she could keep eyes on me." Emma whistles lowly. 

"And I thought you were controlling," Emma remarks. 

"Yeah, my mother makes me look like a care-free child," Regina agrees. "When I found out about all of this, I told her I wasn't going to live in the mansion. I had still technically earned the job and it was going to be good for me, so I didn't want to quit. But then she told me that if I didn't live there, she would pay the school to fire me, and she threatened to personally tear my reputation down so bad that it would be impossible for me to ever get a job again. And I couldn't take the risk because my mother is a powerful woman. She will do exactly as she says." 

"But, I mean, if you hadn't given in, you never would've met me," Emma points out. 

"You always find a way to look on the bright side. That's one of the many reasons that I love you, another one being that you're so fucking hot," Regina says and straddles Emma, kissing down her neck. Emma moans softly when Regina bites on her collarbone. 

"Gina," she gasps when Regina sucks on the skin behind her ear, and it takes all of Emma's willpower to push Regina away. 

"Emma, what are you doing?" Regina isn't used to being rejected, especially by the blonde. 

"You're in a vulnerable state right now. You just told me how your mother gave you a house so she could keep tabs on you. That's some messed up stuff. You can't just say all that and then expect me to think you're emotionally stable enough to have sex," Emma argues, and Regina can tell she's serious. 

"I'm fine, Emma, really. I just need a distraction, and luckily, you're right here," Regina says and leans down to nibble at her neck, only to get pushed off by the blonde. "Emma!" 

"I'm sorry, Regina. I'm not going to let you use me as a distraction. This is so unlike you." She sounds genuinely hurt, but the brunette is just angry. 

"Well maybe I wouldn't need to use you as a distraction if you weren't so insistent that you meet my mother," Regina snaps, and regrets it instantly when Emma flinches. 

"So this is my fault now? I'm so sorry that I wanted to meet the love of my life's family!" Emma fires back sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, did you ever think about why I didn't want you to meet them in the first place? Nope, because you just couldn't imagine that someone's mother could be so awful! Not everyone has a perfect family like you, Emma," Regina retorts sharply. 

"My family isn't perfect," Emma protests and Regina laughs coldly. 

"Oh, no? Tell me, did your mother ever lock you in a closet for 24 hours because you got a little bit of mud on your clothes while playing outside? Did your mother slap you across the face for being one minute late to the dinner table? Did your mother pay the the family of the girl that you loved to move away and never contact you again when you were seventeen?" Regina is almost yelling now. "No, because your dad was too busy playing football with you and your twin brothers. Your mom was too busy caring about you so much and cooking warm meals for you. They were too busy having a Star Wars marathon with their kids, who they love more than anything."

"Regina, I'm-" 

"Don't. Just please get out. Just leave me alone," Regina says, her voice void of any emotion. Emma's face is completely closed off as she gets off the bed and walks out the room. Regina winces when she slams the door behind her. 

Regina takes a shaky breath and presses her fingers to her cheeks, realizing that they're wet. 

"What have I done?" Regina whispers to herself. Emma proposed to her this morning, and they just had their worst fight ever not ten hours later. Emma was right, this is so unlike her. 

She lays on the bed, hugs a pillow to her chest, and cries herself to sleep. 


	3. Meet the parents

When Regina wakes up, the room is dark. She looks at the clock and finds the time 8:30 looking back at her. 

The door opens quietly and Emma slips inside and turns around. She lets out a gasp when she sees Regina sitting up in bed. 

"Hey, sorry, I was trying not to wake you," Emma says, not sure if the other woman is going to yell at her to get out again. Regina rubs her eyes sleepily and yawns. 

"It's okay. I had just gotten up. You can turn on the light if you want," Regina says and hisses when Emma does. Emma cautiously walks over the bed and sits next to Regina, fiddling with her hands. "I'm sorry, Emma. I shouldn't have yelled at you," Regina apologizes and Emma thinly smiles. 

"No, I'm sorry. Your mom sounds terrible, and everything she's done to you is awful. If you don't want to go see her tomorrow, then we won't go. I just wish you had told me more about her," Emma says and Regina takes her hand. 

"I know, and I should've told you about my mom. And as much as I'd love to just not show up at my mother's tomorrow, she'd literally kill me. But you don't have to go," Regina offers. She knows how to deal with her mother, Emma doesn't. 

Emma squeezes her hand. "We're getting married, which means I'm going to stand by you no matter what. There's no way in hell I'm letting you go see your mother alone, I'm going to never leave your side and I will not hesitate to throw her off a mountain if she hurts you," Emma threatens, and Regina laughs and lays her head on Emma's shoulder. 

"How did I get so lucky to be with you?" Regina murmurs, tracing circles on Emma's skin with her finger. Emma kisses Regina's head. 

"And just for the record, you may have a terrible person for a mother, but you will always have a place in my family. My parents love you like a daughter, and my brothers like you more than they like me. I mean, Henry adores you! So, who cares if your mother loves you or not?" Regina picks her head up to shoot a look to Emma with a frown. "Yeah, sorry, I shouldn't have said that. What I'm trying to say is that, my family loves you. And after New Years, you never have to see your mother again if you don't want to. We can sell the mansion and move somewhere she can't find us. I honestly don't care what we do, as long as we're together." A tear runs down Regina's cheek. 

Regina leans in and kisses Emma's lips softly. "I love you so much, Emma." 

Emma wraps an arm around Regina. "I love you so much, too. Besides, it's a good thing that you think my family is perfect. Because you're my family now. And you're perfect." 

"God, you're so cheesy," Regina says, smiling into Emma's neck. But she's still scared for tomorrow. Because her mother thinks that love is weakness. And her mother has a knack for making the things, and people, that Regina loves go away. 

***

Five hours later, Regina is still awake. Emma fell asleep awhile ago, but Regina is antsy and restless. Cora Mills brings out the worst in her, and Regina knows that the fight earlier was just the beginning. _Maybe I should start a bet about who will drive Emma away faster: my mother, or me_ , Regina thinks bitterly. But the blonde seems pretty hellbent on sticking by Regina's side. She wonders if that will change once she meets the woman who raised her girlfriend. 

Emma snores loudly, and it startles Regina. She looks fondly at her sleeping fiancee. Emma is the light of her life, and she doesn't want to lose her. She can't lose her. She _won't_ lose her. So Regina paces the room, trying to think of a plan. 

She's still futilely brainstorming four hours later when the alarm goes off. Cora had emailed the flight tickets to Regina, who saw with annoyance that her mother had selected the 7:30 am flight from Maine to California. They're leaving the house in fifteen minutes, and they won't have time to say goodbye to the twins. 

Emma stirs and mutters something. She rolls over, reaching her hand out to touch Regina, who hasn't slept a wink all night and has just stopped walking around the room. "Gina?" Emma says, still half asleep. 

"Babe, come on, you have to get up," Regina tells her, getting dressed. "Emma?" she says when the blonde doesn't move. Regina tiptoes over to her and bends down until she's right above Emma's ear. "There's one bear claw left, and your dad is about to eat it." The lie does the trick, and Emma sits straight up, narrowly missing Regina's head. She jumps out of bed and looks around wildly, and then she hears Regina laughing. 

"That was mean," Emma grumbles, turning red. Regina kisses her cheek, throws a shirt and a pair of jeans at her, and then goes downstairs. Emma follows her a few minutes later and pours herself a glass of orange juice. David is down there too, and takes Emma's bag from her and goes to put it in the truck. 

"You guys ready?" he asks once he comes back inside. Regina shakes her head, but gets in the truck. 

The ride to the airport is silent, and Regina is apprehensive. She chews on her lip and taps her foot on the ground until Emma lays a hand on her leg to get her to stop. She switches to biting her nails and twisting her hair between her fingers. 

When they get there, David gives them both hugs, and then he's gone. 

Emma and Regina don't say much of anything through security and they still have thirty minutes to kill before boarding starts. 

"Do you want anything to eat?" Emma asks, trying to start a conversation. 

"No, thank you," Regina replies and focuses on a father and his young daughter, who are sitting a few rows away from them. Emma looks at Regina nervously. She's never seen her like this. The brunette seems almost scared. 

"When you said that your mother paid the family of the girl you loved to move away and never contact you again...?"

Regina winces and sighs. "When I was seventeen, I rode horses, which you knew. But I never told you about the girl that worked at the stables. Her name was Daniella. She was only a year older than me, and we'd been friends forever. One day, she kissed me. I really liked her, and we started dating in secret. My mom was still holding out hope that I wasn't a complete disappointment and would grow up to find a wealthy husband and have lots of kids, so I had to make sure she never found out. We never did anything besides kissing and occasionally making out, but I loved her. One day, my mother came to the barn and caught us. She literally dragged me home. I heard her on the phone talking to Daniella's parents later that day, offering them an insane amount of money to move away. The next week, Daniella and her family were gone. I never saw her again." She has a faraway look in her eye and Emma gently touches her arm to bring her back. 

"God, Regina, I'm so sorry," Emma whispers hoarsely. She doesn't know what else to say. 

"And then the day I turned eighteen, she tried to marry me off to a much older guy. She said it'd be good for me. I had already gotten into Harvard, so I bought myself a plane ticket and ran away to Massachusetts. I found a cheap hotel and got a job to pay for it. I stayed there until school started." Horror is written all over Emma's face, but Regina just shrugs like it wasn't a big deal. 

"Regina, oh my god," Emma says softly. 

"And you want to know what the worst part is?" Regina laughs bitterly, struggling with the words. It breaks Emma's heart to see the pain in Regina's eyes. "She said she was just doing what was best for me." She wipes her eyes and Emma has never seen Regina look so miserable. 

"If I had known, I never would've wanted you to call her, I swear. I'm so sorry," Emma says. She's never hated herself more. 

Regina pats Emma's leg and gives her a half smile. "Emma, you give people the benefit of the doubt, that's who you are. You don't have to apologize for being yourself. If anyone's to blame, it's me, for not telling you about her earlier." 

Emma feels a little better, but not by much. Regina should've told her, that's true, but Emma should've still trusted her when she said that her mother was awful. 

There's the first call for boarding, so Emma stands up and helps Regina. The moment they step on the plane, this will really be happening. They will be going to California, and Emma will be meeting the infamous Cora Mills. 

***

Emma elbows Regina's side, and she wakes up with a jolt. As soon as the plane had taken off, Regina passed out cold. Emma had just chuckled and started watching Netflix. "We're here," Emma tells her and Regina groans. 

Emma finds that the temperature in Los Angeles is about ten degrees warmer than Storybrooke is when they walk out of the airport. Regina leads her over to a black limousine with a man standing outside it. 

"Jefferson," Regina says curtly with a nod when the man opens the door for her and Emma. Jefferson doesn't say anything, he just closes the door behind them and then gets into the drivers seat. 

It's a short drive to Cora's house on the beach, and when they pull into the driveway, Emma's jaw drops. If she thought Regina's house was big, it's nothing compared to Cora's. Her home is literally a castle. Emma's almost rendered speechless by how insanely huge it is. 

"Welcome to my old home," Regina says, grinding her teeth. Jefferson turns off the car, and a minute later, comes around the vehicle to open the door for them. "Thank you, Jefferson," Regina says, sounding more formal than Emma has ever heard. 

They make their way to the front door, but before Regina can even raise a hand to knock, the door swings open, revealing an older woman, with straight brown hair. Her eyes are the same color as her daughter's, but where Regina's are warm, Cora's look cold and lifeless. On her face is what Emma presumes to be a permanent sneer. 

"Mother," Regina greets stiffly. 

"Regina. And you must be the one who's marrying my daughter. Wherever did she find you, dear, on the streets?" Cora tuts in disapproval, looking over Emma, and she has to dig her fingernails into her palms to not punch her in the face. Cora turns back to her daughter. "Are you sure this is who you want to spend the rest of your life with, dear? I'm sure we could find literally anyone better than her." 

"I may not be filthy rich like you, but at least I know how to love her," Emma snarls, taking delight in the shock that appears in Cora's eyes. Regina places a hand on Emma's arm to calm her down. 

"Well, well. It seems she's a feisty one. It's a step up from that one stable girl, I have to admit," Cora taunts lazily, and Regina almost lunges at her. "Zelena! Your sister's here!" she calls into the house, and Emma and Regina can hear footsteps thundering down the stairs. 

A woman a few years older than Regina appears at the door, looking nothing like her sister. Her hair is auburn and curly, and her icy blue eyes stand out against her pale skin. 

"Oh, hello. Regina," Zelena says with a british accent, her lip curling as she takes in Regina and Emma. "You must be Emma." Her voice is dripping with repulsion, like she's talking about a disgusting rat. 

"Yeah. I love the accent by the way, how long it'd take you to learn it?" Emma asks with fake politeness. Regina snorts and turns it into a cough and Zelena glares daggers at her. 

"Why don't we all come in?" Cora suggests after a few minutes of everyone scowling at each other. "Try not to get dirt all over the floor." She stares directly at Emma as she says this, and Emma rolls her eyes. 

They're off to a great start. 


	4. Family dinner

For some unexplained reason, Cora lets them stay in Regina's old room together - which is bigger than the entire top floor of Emma's family's house. Not that either of them are complaining; it just seems strange considering that Cora clearly does not approve of Emma. 

They've been lying on the bed for hours, Emma holding Regina in her arms and absentmindedly stroking her hair. It's soothing to Regina, and provides her with a sense of comfort, despite where they are right now. 

"Time for dinner!" Cora shouts, and Emma and Regina reluctantly untangle themselves. 

"Hey, thanks for saying that stuff to my mother and Zelena when we first got here," Regina says. "The look on their faces was priceless." She laughs, recalling how red Zelena turned when Emma implied that her accent was fake. 

"Babe, I'm not letting them drive me away. I'm staying right here, with you," Emma states firmly. "And man, it felt really good to say all that to them."

Regina smiles thinly. "Well, dinner should at least be entertaining now." She offers Emma her hand, who grabs on tightly, and Regina takes her to the dining room. Emma's breath catches when they walk in the room. The biggest table she has ever seen is here, with four chairs at one end of it. "My mother used to host dinner parties in where when I was younger," she remembers with a frown. She had always hated those parties because it meant she wasn't allowed to leave her room from noon until the next morning.

Cora is already sitting at the head of the table, and Zelena's on her right side. There's two empty chairs to the left of Cora, and Regina chooses the one across from Zelena. Cora claps her hands and the butlers come in, carrying covered trays of food. Once they're all set down in front of everyone, Cora lifts the cover off hers and then motions for everyone else to do the same. 

It's steak, lobster, mashed potatoes, and a salad, and Emma's mouth is almost watering. Before Emma can dig in, Cora taps her fork against the side of wine glass and holds it up. 

"To a family dinner!" she toasts, and the way she leers at Emma makes it clear that Emma is not a part of the family. Emma clenches her teeth and Regina squeezes her thigh under the table, so Emma tries to relax. 

"To a family dinner!" Zelena repeats loudly. Regina and Emma gently clink their glasses against each other's, and then start eating without even sparing a glance to Regina's mother or sister. Emma can practically feel the disapproval radiating off Cora in waves and it takes all of her willpower not to snap at her again. She'd love nothing more. 

"So, Zelena, what are you up to these days?" Regina asks once she finishes her salad. "Still Mother's lap dog?" Emma grins widely into her wine glass. 

Zelena's face color almost matches her hair. "At least I'm not dating a homeless person," Zelena shoots back. Regina arches an eyebrow and Emma's kind of embarrassed. She still has on her airport clothes, which are jeans, a long black shirt, and a maroon leather jacket. To be fair, her blonde hair is frizzy and full of knots, but homeless? She then notices that all three Mills have on fancy dresses and there's not a hair out of place. She's sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Emma's not homeless, dear. She's living with me. In _your_ mansion," Regina says, looking pointedly at Cora, who purses her lips. 

"And I live here," Zelena says, spreading her arms. "This place is at least twice as big as your mansion." 

"So? If anything, I'd like to live in a smaller place. I don't care about the size of my house, all I care about it that I'm living somewhere with the person I love. Which is probably something that no one's ever said about you," Regina retorts in a calm and collected voice. Emma chokes on a piece of steak from silently laughing too hard. 

Zelena slams her wine glass on table in anger. Emma notes that while Regina is very good at keeping her cool, Zelena is not. The redhead is fuming right now, and Regina's eating her lobster like she doesn't have a care in the world. 

" _Enough!_ " Cora hisses and Zelena looks grateful. 

"We're just catching up with some light banter, Mother," Regina says with a roll of her eyes. Every time she's winning in a fight against her sister, Cora always swoops in to save Zelena's dignity. 

"We're not here so you can roast your sister, we're here so we can meet your fiancee," Cora says sharply. Regina takes a sip of wine before gesturing to Emma, who awkwardly smiles and waves at them. 

"This is Emma," Regina drawls. 

Cora frowns. "How did you two meet?"

"Why do you care?" Regina spits out, and Emma's a little taken aback. Her mother just asked her a question, does Regina really need to be so hostile? 

"Don't talk to Mother that way," Zelena orders, and Regina turns on her so fast that Emma's surprised she doesn't get whiplash. 

"Oh, really? You're still defending her? You know what, Zelena? It's pathetic how much you desperately want Mother's love and approval. It's pathetic how low you'll go in order to get it. When will you realize that she has never loved you? When will you realize that she _will never_ love you?" Regina's breathing deeply now, and Emma can't help but wonder if she's talking about herself too. And then she's genuinely scared for Regina's life when Cora slowly pushes back her chair and stands up. 

"You're wrong, dear," Cora says, her voice cold. Somehow, Emma thinks this is worse than her yelling. "I only want what's best for you. That's all I've ever wanted for both of you. And that's why I've done everything that I've done. Yet, for some reason, you keep rebelling against me, Regina. That's all you've ever done. I set you up for a wonderful, luxurious life, but you don't want it. But Zelena, on the other hand, has done everything right. You've disappointed me, Regina, but because Zelena hasn't, she will soon get everything that she wants. You've never trusted that I have your best interests at heart, but dear, when will you learn that Mother knows best?" 

Regina's shaking with fury now, and Zelena is wearing a smug look on her face. Emma suddenly feels like she's intruding and she really shouldn't be here. However, she thinks it might be worse if she gets up in the middle of this now. 

"You have never had my best interests at heart. And you don't want what's best for me, you've only ever wanted what's best for you," Regina says in a deadly voice. "What's best for me is to leave your house and never see you ever again." She stands up abruptly and storms out of the dining hall. Emma slowly folds up the napkin from her lap and places it on the table, getting out of her chair too. 

"You know, at first I didn't believe it when Regina said that her mother was an awful person. But now, I think that she was being way too generous. She should've called you a monster," Emma says, and then immediately follows Regina out so she can have the last word. 

When she finally finds her way back to Regina's room, the brunette is angrily packing her bag. 

"That went really well," Emma says sarcastically, plopping down onto the bed. Regina doesn't answer. "I'm really sorry, Gina. This is all my fault."

Regina drops the clothes she's holding and clenches her fists. "I hate her so much. I just feel like I'm a puppet, you know? No matter how hard I try to free myself from her, she always has strings attached to me, she's always controlling me." 

Emma walks over to her and runs her hands up and down Regina's arms. "Not anymore. I'm sure we can catch a flight back to Washington tonight or at least early tomorrow morning. I'll start looking, and once we leave this place, we'll sell the mansion and your mom won't ever find us." Regina smiles lovingly at her. She knows Emma feels really bad about forcing her to call her mom and is trying to make it up to her, and never having to see Cora Mills ever again will be enough. 

"Miss Mills?" a butler says from the door. "Your mother wishes to speak with you in the library." 

"Tell her that I don't care," Regina replies, and turns back to Emma, groaning when the man doesn't leave. 

"She was very insistent that you speak with her," the man tells her. Regina closes her eyes. 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Emma whispers, and Regina shakes her head. Emma bites her lip when Regina and the butler leave, and pulls out her laptop to start looking for cheap flights to Seattle. 

Regina follows the butler down the winding staircase and into a large room off to the side of the kitchen. The walls are lined with full bookcases, and in the middle, there's a small table with Cora already sitting. 

Regina walks over and stiffly stands across from her mother. "Please, have a seat," Cora says, gesturing at the seat that Regina is gripping with her hands. She doesn't move. Her mother sighs and slides a folder over to her. Regina hesitantly picks it up. 

"What is this?" 

Cora shrugs, and Regina opens it and gasps. Inside it are pictures and papers. Pictures of Emma, Regina and Emma, and Emma's family. Scribbled on the sticky notes are addresses - Regina's mansion, the university she works at, Emma's parent's house, the company Emma works at, random places in Storybrooke. She finds a picture of Henry and Neal, along with the name of their middle school. 

Regina looks up at her mother, frozen in horror. Cora has been stalking them. She knows everything about them.

Cora leans across the table to pluck the folder from Regina's fingers and gives her a sincere smile. "I know about your plan to leave for Washington and sell the house to get away from me. So I wanted to show you this." She pats the cover of the folder and her eyes turn dangerous. "I know everything about Emma's precious family, and I know how much you love them, especially Emma's twin brothers. I think their names were Neal and Henry?" Regina's blood runs cold. 

"If you hurt them," Regina begins, seething, and Cora raises her hand to cut her off. 

"Oh no, dear, I'm not going to hurt them. I mean, unless you don't stay here until New Years, and you sell the mansion. Then, I can't make any promises. It'd be such a shame to have to do something to such a perfect family because you couldn't do as I asked," Cora says thoughtfully, tracing a finger over Henry's face in a picture. Regina's knuckles turn white from holding onto the chair so tightly. 

"Imagine having to blackmail your own daughter into spending time with you," Regina spits out. 

"Yes, much like how Emma blackmailed you into being her fake girlfriend," Cora replies calmly and Regina blanches. The only people that know about that are Regina, Emma, Emma's family, and Ruby. 

"How did you know that?" she whispers. 

"I know everything, dear. Now, run along. I'm sure you have some things to tell your dear Emma Swan." 

Regina turns on her heel and makes sure to not let herself cry until she's far away from her mother. 

And even then, it won't be far enough. 


	5. No escape

Emma's sitting on the bed with her legs crossed and the laptop resting on her lap when Regina comes in the room and slams the door. Emma can see that her eyes are red, so she carefully sets the computer to the side and goes to her fiancee. 

"Babe, what happened?" Emma asks as Regina angrily swipes at the tears on her face. "I found a flight tomorrow at eight." 

Regina chokes back a sob. "Emma, we can't leave. We have to stay until New Years. My mother knows things, and she'll hurt people if we run away. We don't have a choice," Regina tells her helplessly, and Emma steps away from her. 

"What do you mean, she knows things? Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Maybe she's bluffing, maybe it's worth the risk to just leave," Emma says. She knows how painful this is for Regina and how the brunette was hellbent on leaving, so why does she suddenly need to stay?

Regina shakes her head. "Cora Mills never bluffs. I can't risk anyone getting hurt. We can't leave, and we can't sell the mansion." 

"Regina!" Emma exclaims. "Who would get hurt? Me? She's not pushing me away, and I will not let her break us up."

"No, Emma. Your family," Regina rasps and Emma's eyes widen. "She knows everything about your family and she said that if we ran away and sold the house, she'd hurt them all, starting with the twins." 

Emma walks backwards until she numbly falls onto the bed. "There has to be something you can do, right?" Regina bows her head and a cold feeling runs through Emma. "She threatens my family and you're just giving in? Isn't there something we can use against her as leverage? Someone she loves?"

Regina laughs bitterly. "Weren't you just at dinner? My mother loves no one." 

Emma refuses to accept that and jumps off the bed and starts pacing. "You can't just give up! My family is at stake here, Regina. Why aren't you fighting back?"

"There's no fighting back against Cora. She's too powerful. The best thing we can do is to just give her what she wants." Emma glares at her. "Emma, your family is too important to me to even attempt going against my mother." 

"Yeah, well, they're important to me, too! I can't believe you're just going to roll over and let your mother step all over you." 

Regina shakily draws a breath and Emma knows she's hit a nerve. "Just because I told you a few stories about my mother, that does _not_ mean that you know her," Regina hisses. "This is the only way that no one gets hurt." 

"Or, you're just being weak," Emma snaps and Regina flinches. "You say no matter what you do, she always has control of you? Maybe that's because you're too cowardly to actually do something about it. My family could be in trouble right now, and you just want to sit around and hope for the best. Well, I'm actually going to do something about it. Because they're _my_ family, and _I_ love them." 

"You're just a brash, reckless child who doesn't understand anything that she can't relate to," Regina snarls. "You think you can win against Cora Mills? You're wrong."

Emma laughs coldly. "Maybe I can, maybe I can't. At least I'm going to try and find out. She threatened my family, and I'm doing something about it."

"She never would've threatened your family if you hadn't made me call her in the first place!" Regina yells. She knows that her anger is misdirected, but it feels so good to get it out, even if Emma doesn't deserve it. 

"I never would've made you call her if you had just told me why you didn't want to talk to her!" Emma shouts, shaking with fury. 

"Oh really? Because I've told you about her now, and you're still about to go confront her with guns blazing. Me telling you about her before hand would've done nothing, you still would've felt the need to stick your nose into my family's business and tried to fix everything. Well, Emma, there are some things that you just can't fix!" 

Emma's glare is deadly as she storms past Regina and outside the room. She closes the door forcefully and Regina's left alone, wanting to scream. She does the next best thing, which is picking up a glass from a table and throwing it at the wall. It shatters with a satisfying sound and Regina meets her reflection's eyes in the mirror. She absolutely despises what she sees, so she throws another glass at the mirror, breaking both. 

She hates herself for being weak, hates herself for being powerless against her mother, hates herself for how she's been acting toward Emma. Tears slip down her cheeks and she's filled with self-loathing. 

She lays emotionlessly in bed until she dozes off into a restless sleep. 

The next morning, she just feels dry and empty. She rolls over so she can seek out Emma, but her fingers only find coldness. Emma's not in the bed. Emma never came back last night. Guilt starts to naw at Regina's stomach. Did she run away? Maybe she got on the first flight to Maine. Or she went home to Washington without Regina. 

She feels like a robot just going through the motions when she gets dressed. She heads downstairs to the dining room, and to her surprise, finds Emma and Zelena chatting amicably. Regina hates the sight of it. 

"Morning, Regina," Zelena purrs. Regina ignores her and meets Emma's eyes briefly before the blonde looks away. It's crazy to think that only two days ago, Emma asked Regina to marry her. Now, Emma won't even look at her. _I just want us to be alright,_ Regina thinks, but she knows it's going to be awhile before that happens. 

"Hey," Regina says softly when she sits down next to Emma. 

"Hey," Emma replies, and Regina can tell that she regrets their fight last night. So does she. 

"You clearly have a lot to talk about, so I'll leave you two alone," Zelena quips and sashays out of the dining room. Regina raises an eyebrow at her sister. Usually Zelena would be rubbing it in that there's trouble in paradise. 

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you weak or cowardly. I was just really frustrated that you weren't even going to try to help my family," Emma says once Zelena's out of earshot. "As soon as I left last night, I wanted to go back but I didn't think that you wanted to see me, so I started walking around the house. Zelena found me and showed me to a guest room. We ended up talking a bit, and she's really not that bad." 

"Emma, staying here _is_ helping your family," Regina tells her, purposely ignoring the part about Zelena not being that bad. Emma slouches into her chair. "I know that you wish there was more that you could do-"

"Well, I am a brash and reckless child," Emma repeats Regina's words from last night and Regina has to fight down a flash of anger. 

"Are you serious? Why do you get to apologize for what you said, but then also get to use what I said against me?"

Emma's about to retort when Cora walks in, humming to herself. All of Emma's anger turns from Regina to Cora, and Emma opens her mouth to say something when Regina kicks her leg. She gasps in pain and shoots a glare to Regina, who shakes her head. And just like that, Emma's pissed at Regina again. 

Needless to say, breakfast is completely silent. 

After Emma finally finishes all of her hot chocolate, she trudges up the stairs after Regina. She's nervous for what's going to happen. Emma hates fighting with Regina, but lately that seems like that's all they've been doing. 

"Can't we just go back to normal?" Regina asks pleadingly once they're back in the bedroom with the door closed. 

Emma sighs. "I want that more than everything. But your mother is threatening my family. It's because of me that we're here, but you're also not fighting back against Cora. We're both at fault here, and arguing with each other isn't going to help or change anything. We need to put everything behind us and work together." 

Regina smiles gratefully and nods. They can do this. 

Thirty minutes later, they're back at each other's throats. They had started working on a solution to the Cora problem peacefully, but then it had quickly turned into an ugly game of accusations. 

"Maybe you should try actually standing up to your mother for once!" Emma yells. 

"Maybe you should try actually listening for once!" Regina fires back. "I wouldn't need to stand up to her if you had just listened to me when I said she was a terrible person! But no, you just had to try to be a savior. I said I had a bad relationship with my mother and you said that of course she'd be happy that her daughter was getting married, even with a bad relationship. How's that turning out for you? Did you think that she was happier when she insulted you to your face or when she threatened your family?" Regina taunts even though she knows she shouldn't. 

Emma's getting ready to say something back when she deflates. "We're fighting again," Emma says dully, and Regina has to stomp down the urge to make a sarcastic comment about how obvious that is. "What happened to us?"

Regina looks away. "My mother happened." Cora's speciality is ruining lives. 

"I think we need help," Emma says.

"No one can help us take down my mother. What she really needs is to be locked up in an insane asylum." Emma chuckles before shaking her head. Regina doesn't know what she's talking about. 

"I mean, _we_ need help." She motions between the two of them. "I think that we should talk to someone. A therapist, maybe. Because I may have been overly confident when I said that I wasn't going to let Cora break us up, because if we're being honest, that's where we're heading. And that's the last thing that I want because Regina, I love you more than everything in the entire world. But if we keep fighting like this, if we keep letting Cora come between us, we're not going to make it. And I can't lose you, babe. I want to marry you so bad, I want to be your wife, I want to have a family with you." Emma's voice cracks and Regina's eyes are watering. "Admitting we need help is the first step, and I don't think it's going to hurt to talk to someone. You say that I always try to fix things, but right now, the only thing that I care about fixing is us. Because you're the most important thing to me. Plus, it should be pretty easy to find a therapist around here. This is LA, after all." 

Regina nods and pulls Emma into a hug. "Let's do it, because I can't lose you either." 

Three hours later, they're standing outside Dr. Hopper's Couples Counseling. 


End file.
